joan in capri, italy

We're finishing off our week-long trip to Italy with a few more photographs taken by my grandfather Sid of my grandmother Joan in June of 1979. 

I love these photographs so much -- two of my very favorite people on vacation to one of my very favorite places in the world. My world collides in these photographs...my maternal grandparents enjoying the place where my parents and paternal grandparents (and great-grandparents if you remember that story) fell in love. How is that for a good family story?

One day I'll show these photographs to my children and grandchildren. They are true family heirlooms. 

Joan with a horse and some pigeons in Rome, Italy. She loved all animals.

Joan with my parents in Capri, Italy. They packed light for the occasion...ha! Check out the lime green car (Fiat?).

Joan exploring Capri, Italy.

My pretty grandmother. The colors in this one are so lovely. This is Italy to me -- terra cotta pots of flowers and sun-faded buildings with terraces and shutters.

family stories: clyde and his friends

I love this group photo of my great-grandfather Clyde L. Stroup (third from right on the second row) and his fellow Cleveland and Nottingham Equipment Works Supervisors Club members. It was taken a few days after Joan's 12th birthday (the one where she received the piano I mentioned earlier this week). 

We have plans to hang this photo in our powder room along with several other vintage group photos of various family members and their coworkers and friends. It should be cool! 

miracles on a monday

Miracles

Walt Whitman, 1819 - 1892

Why, who makes much of a miracle?
As to me I know of nothing else but miracles, 
Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan, 
Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky, 
Or wade with naked feet along the beach just in the edge of
   the water, 
Or stand under trees in the woods, 
Or talk by day with any one I love, or sleep in the bed at night
   with any one I love, 
Or sit at table at dinner with the rest, 
Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car, 
Or watch honey-bees busy around the hive of a summer
   forenoon, 
Or animals feeding in the fields, 
Or birds, or the wonderfulness of insects in the air, 
Or the wonderfulness of the sundown, or of stars shining so
   quiet and bright, 
Or the exquisite delicate thin curve of the new moon in spring; 
These with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles, 
The whole referring, yet each distinct and in its place.

To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,
Every cubic inch of space is a miracle,
Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread with
   the same,
Every foot of the interior swarms with the same.

To me the sea is a continual miracle,
The fishes that swim—the rocks—the motion of the waves—
   the ships with men in them,
What stranger miracles are there?

It's easy to overlook miracles when we're caught up in the every day chaos of life. Our pastor shared this poem by Walt Whitman in church on Sunday, and it resonated with me. Whitman was right -- Miracles happen every single moment of every single day. How awesome is that?

On a personal note, Porter (our black lab) and I are both having surgery this week. If you don't mind saying a prayer for each of us (and for Jonathan, our caregiver), I would be very grateful. It's going to be a long week, and we could use all the positive energy we can get! 

mothers

In honor of Mother's Day, we wanted to share photographs of some of the women who have shaped our lives as well as some touching quotes about why our mothers (and grandmothers, great-grandmothers and great-great-grandmothers) are so special.

Someday I will be a better mother because of your presence in my life.

Elzie Harden holding her son Gerald. Also pictured is Gerald's father Dayton Harden.

“No man is poor who has a Godly mother.”  - Abraham Lincoln

Eliza Yates and her son Clovis Guy.

“A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.” -Washington Irving

Sadie Hardin with her son Greg.

"All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That’s his."
-Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest

Elsie Stroup with her children Joan and Bob.

"I know how to do anything. I'm a mom." - Roseanne Barr

Joan Sutter holding her daughter Julie. Also pictured is Joan's father Clyde Stroup.

"The natural state of motherhood is unselfishness. When you become a mother, you are no longer the center of your own universe. You relinquish that position to your children."
-Jessica Lange

Lucy Cannon (who was pregnant with her son Fred) and her mother Tina de Forcade.

“But there's a story behind everything. How a picture got on a wall. How a scar got on your face. Sometimes the stories are simple, and sometimes they are hard and heartbreaking. But behind all your stories is always your mother's story, because hers is where yours begin.” 
-Mitch Albom, For One More Day

Lucy Cannon with her mother Tina de Forcade and her daughter Tina Carignani. Also pictured are Tina's sons Carlo and Francesco and me with a turkey neck. Ha.

Laura Dumm and her great-granddaughter Julie.

To all of the mothers out there, Happy Mother's Day.